Will Hunt and the Rise of the Hathornes
by theprinceofrags
Summary: Will Hunt graduated from the eighth grade. He is now going to be allowed to join the Salem Academy of Magic. However, at the same time the descendant of the evil Reverend John Hathorne is also starting school this year, but who is he?
1. Accepted

Will was awoken to an owl cooing in his window. He knew instantly who it was as soon as he saw it. _ After all, everyone else uses phones now or the spiderweb_, he thought to himself. He grabbed the letter and handed the owl a sickle. It hooted and flew away. Will read the letter to himself silently, _to William Smithlin Hunt _

_332 Old Way Rd_

_Hunt, TN_

_From Dean Nathaniel Proctor of The Salem Academy of Magic_.

Will ran down the stairs yelling, "Mom! Dad! It's here! My letter it's here!"

He got to them finally as they were eating breakfast and blurted out, "Mom, Dad, myletterisherefinally!"

"Son, speak with words," his father said with a chuckle.

Will's father, Timothy, was much like his son, in appearance and personality. They were both tall and slim with red hair and blue eyes. They were also light hearted and loving towards others. Will's mother, Christine, was a short slim lady that looked about ten years younger than she was. She is very beautiful and as kind as she was beautiful.

"My letter from Salem came in Dad!" Will said in a mocking tone.

"Congratulations, William," his mother said as she gave him a kiss on the forhead.

"Thanks, Ma," Will replied.

"So you're starting high school, son. Are you excited?" His dad asked.

"Of course, there's so much we have to do," Will said as he stood up and began pacing, "I need a wand, books, uniform, cauldron, new broom, tr-"

"To read your letter," his mother interrupted.

"Ohhh, yeah!" Will hollered as he ripped the top off of his letter.

He began to read aloud, "Dear William Smithlin Hunt, We are pleased to inform you of your admittance to The Salem Academy of Magic. There have been some changes of the rules this year. We have removed the uniform requirement. You should reply before or by July 20th. We will be pleased to see you this Fall, Yours Sincerely, Dean Nathaniel Proctor."

"No uniforms? I bet you're happy, son," his father joked, incredulously.

"When should we take him to Salem to get his supplies?" Christine asked Tim.

"Well, we can take him today," he replied, "What do you think?"

Will looked expectantly between his mother and father. "Sure, why not?" Will heard his mom say. He leapt for joy and ran upstairs for a shower.


	2. School Shopping

"Alright, Will. You know that Hunt isn't the only magical town, right?" Will's dad asked.

"Yeah, there's Franklin, SalemVillage, Holliday and a couple others, right?" Will said hesitantly.

"Yes, son. You've been to Salem once before, when you were very little," Christine said, "it's pretty much the capital of the American wizarding world. We're going there to get your school supplies and maybe look around the school if we can."

Will could barely supress his excitement. He saw the portal that said **_SalemVillage_** above it on a stone slab. He could see the village in the portal and was full of wonder. He looked to his dad and saw him smiling. His mother was the first to walk through. Will felt his father's hand gripping his shoulder as they stepped in the doorway. They passed through, and Will felt a cooling sensation move up his frame.

"Well, son. We're here. Here's your money, there's 20 galleons, some sickles, and some knuts in there," Timothy said as he handed a bulging coin purse to his son, "You should be able to get everything but your new broom with that. I'm going to go speak with Sam Hale. There are some pressing matters to speak about. Christine, are you going to go get it?"

"Yes, dear. Will, you can go to the tavern and get some lunch. I think Sam's daughter is there," his mom said teasingly.

Will was happy to hear that, he had always had a crush on Natalie. While, he never traveled to Salem much, their families traveled together often. He waved to his parents and headed to the tavern. On a beat up sign he saw the name, "The Hippogriff's Nest." He opened up the door and was immediately assailed by the smell of butterbeer and the sound of laughter. He saw Natalie talking to her mother and a boy about two years older than her. Her mother saw Will come in and waved for him. Natalie looked over and her face lit up. She smiled and her eyes twinkled lightly. Will waltzed over and gave her and her mother a hug.

"Will, this is Robert Jackson." Mrs. Hale said after the reunion. Will reached and shook the older boy's hand. "He's my brother's oldest son. Rob is a junior at Salem and captain of the Quodpot team."

"Hello, Will." Rob said. "I hope you're ready to start Salem. Natalie told me that you're good on a broom. I hope to see you at tryouts."

"Thanks, Natalie was probably overexxagerating. She's been known to do that," Will replied with a chuckle, "Quodpot is a little bit too brutal for me though, I'm probably going to play quidditch or basketball, maybe baseball."

"We're going to have a pickup game of Quodpot tonight, you're welcome to join. It's not as tough as it seems," Rob offered with a smile.

"I don't have my broom, but my mom is going to go buy me a new one today, I think."

"Well, I'll leave you three alone, to go get your things," Mrs. Hale said as she walked out the door.

The three of them ordered a drink and burger. They ate in quiet taking in the atmosphere of the restaraunt. Finally, Robert spoke up, "Michelle sent me a message, she's at the portal from New York right now. You two ready?"

They paid for their food and left to the portals. Will saw a gorgeous girl with a slim figure and curly brown hair waiting for them. She ran up to Robert and gave him a kiss on the cheek as he lifted her up. "Michelle, this is Will Hunt and my cousin Natalie Hale." Rob introduced them.

The four of them walked to the strip. Will was taken back a step by the bustle in the marketplace. He saw hundreds of wizards bustling about.

"Well, Will, Nat, Michelle and I are going to go see some friends from our year. Meet us at the quodpot field at five?" Rob asked.

Will and Natalie accepted the offer and headed to Colt's Wands first.


	3. Colt's Wands

The pair entered the wand store and were amazed by the number of pictures on the walls. There were muggle pictures and wizard pictures. Will made the connection when he saw Samuel Colt standing beside an old wizard. He let out a light gasp.

"Ahh, yes," Will heard a voice behind him say.

He turned around and saw a potrait of a man dressed like a cowboy. He saw a wand in a holster on the man's belt and a broom in his left hand. He looked just like the wizard in the picture with Samuel Colt.

"I'm Arturius Colt, I began this store. That picture you were looking at is my cousin, Samuel, and I. You've probably heard of him. He was like the wand maker for muggles. He founded the Colt firearms company. While he did that, I founded the Colt Wands company," the painting said with a grin while he reminicsed.

"Alright, Papaw. They've heard enough, these two must be here for wands. I'm Arthur," a young man said as he offered a handshake to the duo.

"I'm William Hunt, sir," Will replied as he shook the wand maker's hand.

"I'm Natalie Hale," Natalie said as she did likewise.

"Well, let's get the show on the road. Follow me," Arthur said as he walked behind the desk.

He brought out two wands. "This is for you," he said as he handed Will and Natalie a wand, "and for you. Now, these should work for you, they're modeled after the wands other members of your families have owned."

As Natalie began waving her wand about with sparks bursting from the tip. "It seems to be a fit for you, Miss Hale."

Will pulled his wand from the box and held it up. Immediately, the lights in the room dimmed and brightened again. He looked at the wand in amazement. "What type of wand is this?"

Before Arthur could answer, the portrait of Arturius Colt answered, "Yew, with hippogriff feather core, 11 and 3/4's inches. It was the last wand I made. I made it for your great grandfather after Malcolm Hawthorne destroyed his wand, but he died before I could give it to him. He was a good friend of mine."

_This was for my great granddad? I never learned much about him_, Will thought to himself.

"How much is it?" Will asked Arthur.

Yet again the portrait answered, "No charge. I made it as a present for a great man. It appears as though my gift shall be given now."

"Really? Thanks," Will was shocked at the generosity.

Natalie paid for her wand and they departed to get the rest of the supplies.


	4. That Curious Boy

Will recieved a text from his mom telling him that she was waiting at the quodpot field with a surprise. He looked at Natalie with excitement. She looked back and smiled. Their eyes met, his blue and her hazel. They stopped in the street and shared their first kiss since the trip to Egypt last summer. As they kissed he caught a wiff of strawberries in her hair.

"You know I love strawberries," Will whispered to Natalie.

"Yes, I do," she said back and kissed his cheek. Suddenly, Will was knocked out of the way by a gaunt boy about his age. He turned to yell and saw the boy look back as he was running. The boy had a mocking look on his face and his platinum hair was whipping around his head as he leapt on his broom. He stopped and his black eyes met Will's. Will was full of a sense of danger from this teen.

"Who's that," he barely managed to breathe.

"Nathan West. He's weird. I caught him trying to follow my friend home one time," Natalie said with a disgusted look.

A burly teen with black hair followed by two smaller boys showed up a second later. He began yelling at Nathan. He grabbed Will and screamed in his face, "Why in the hell did you let him go?!"

"I don't even know the kid and you best let me go," Will snarled and pushed the bigger boy off of him. In a flash, Nathan dove between the two of them and sent the black haired bully to the ground.

"Come on Chuck," Nathan said in a condescending tone, "can you not keep up?" With that the shaggy haired boy zipped off again.

Natalie grabbed Will's arm and they ducked into a shop before the three boys could start something. Natalie looked panic. She knew those three were bad news. "Be careful around those three. They're sophomores and that big one, Charlie, broke Rob's nose. They used to be on the quodpot team but got kicked off when they started a fight against the Holliday Dragons. That Nathan kid is one of the dumbest boys in town that's why he tries picking fights with them."

"Okay, I'll watch out for them, Nat," Will said and oddly enough, he meant it. He could tell they were bad news.


	5. Quodpot

Will and Natalie made it to the field a quarter until five. He saw his mom with a broom wrapped in paper. He ran over and snatched the wrapping paper off the broom stick. It had Hunt in elegant golden script. He had no idea of the model the broom was.

"What type of broom is this?" He asked his mother.

"It's a custom broom, your father sent the specs to John Ford three months ago," Mrs. Hunt said and hugged him, "It's supposed to outrun a Firebolt that has a two second head start. No one else in the world has this broom. Go ahead and give it a spin."

Will jumped on his broom and took off. It had so much power to it. He fought hard to maintain control of the fast broomstick. After a few minutes in the air, he was comfortable with the broom. He saw Robert and ten others arive at the field with their brooms and a quod. Will zoomed over and landed in front of them. He noted that in the back was that Nathan boy. "Hey, Will. I like the new broom. You ready to play," Rob asked with a smile.

"I guess, I don't really know how to play though," Will said timidly.

"Okay, so the ball is set explode. You have to get it in the cauldron before it blows up or else you're out. It's easy to pick up. It's like a game of hot potatoe. The teams are usually eleven, but we're going to have six on each team. Every quod that gets in the cauldron is one point. We're playing to five points, you ready?"

"Yeah." Will replied as he took to the air. The rest of the teens followed, shortly. The ball was thrown in the air by Natalie, and Rob caught it. He passed it to Nathan who zipped between two defenders that collided in mid air. Will saw the quod flinged his way and caught it. Immediately, Will crossed the length of the field and dropped it in the cauldron. He looked and saw that everyone was shocked, from the speed of his broom.

They continued to play and Will intercepted the quod. As soon as he touched it, he heard Rob screaming. He hesitated for just a second at the yell and felt the ball explode in his hand. He fell to the ground. "You're out, Will," Rob called from above. Will collected his broom and walked off the field. An hour later, the game was over and Rob's team won. Will said goodbye to his new friends. He and Natalie walked back to the portal where his parents were waiting. She kissed him on the cheek right before he passed through the doorway.


	6. Beginning of the Term

Will stepped through the portal with his parents again, but this time, they would leave and he would stay. As he walked in the Johnson dormitory where he would be staying, he saw that Nathan boy again. This time was different, Nathan came to talk to him.

The beady eyed boy said, "Hello, I'm Nathan West. I noticed you last month. You nearly got in a fight with ole Chuck. That takes some guts kid, even though I had to bail you out."

"You didn't have to bail me out. I can handle myself," Will replied with a scowl.

"Woah, chill out Mike Tyson," Nathan chuckled, "I was just going to say I approve. You ain't too bad at quodpot either. You just have to know how to tell when the quod is getting ready to blow."

"How do you tell?" Will was sincere with this question, he wanted to know.

"A good wizard never reveals his secret, bud. I'll see ya around," Nathan slinked off down the hall.

Will watched the trouble maker walk away before he went into his room. He saw that his roommate already had his half of the room set up. He was surprised to see that it was Robert though.

"Come on, Will. There's an assembly today. Grab your wand you can unpack later." Rob told him as he walked out the door.


	7. The Assembly

Rob lead Will to the assembly hall, and they sat with Natalie and Michelle, who were roommates too. Will saw a middle aged wizard walk on the stage. He was tall and seemed stern. He had long, peppered, black hair, kept in a pony tail and grey eyes.

"Hello, I'm Dean Nathaniel Proctor. I'd like to welcome the new students to Salem and welcome back the returning students. I trust that you have had a magnificent summer. I have some things to announce. Number one is a rule change. I consulted the portrait of my ancestor John Proctor and he approved of the idea to revoke the uniforms. It gives the students a sense of individuality. Number two is the annual back to school dance. It will be held next Friday, and here's the catch, you're all invited!," the Dean paused for a second expecting us to break out in laughter, "Well, number three is of a more serious note. I suspect the majority of you have heard of John Hathorne. The man that betrayed the first witches and wizards to travel to America. His descendants have popped up from time to time causing trouble. Well, it appears one of them is in the area. He is suspected to be a man of around fifty. He has black hair and silvery eyes. He is extremely dangerous and goes by the name Seth Hawthorn. I urge you to travel with at least one other student when leaving the campus and at night. Be extremely careful, but, remember, have a wonderful year and study hard."

After he sat down, an older, kind looking lady took the stage. She cleared her throat and in a shrill voice said, "Hello, children. I'm Professer Johnston. I am your history teacher. I would just like to tell you, how ver excited I am to see all of your smiling faces. Lunch is ready, so head next door to the dining hall."

Will and his friends got up and they went to the dining hall. Will sat down with Natalie and they reminisced on the last month of their summer, since they had seen each other.


	8. Letters from Home

Will woke up after the tiresome night and saw an owl perched outside his window. He recognized it as Balthazar, his father's owl. He took the letter and opened it.

_Dear William,_

_I'm going to be unable to contact you for the next month. I trust that Dean Proctor told you of the Hathorne in the area. One wizard (or witch) from each town with a portal has been tasked with searching for this man. I recently traveled to the West searching for him. I nearly caught him, but he incited a riot and fled. I'm going to be traveling around Salem for a while. I'm going to warn you, trust no one that you haven't met before you got to Salem. We suspect that there may be another Hathorne in the area. Possibly, the school._

_I love you, _

_Timothy_

_Remember to look to the West._

__Will contemplated who he could tell about this. He could only think of one, Natalie. He snuck out of the room to keep from waking Rob. Will waited outside the girls dorm for about thirty minutes until Natalie came out. "What'd you need, Will?" She asked with a yawn.

"I got a letter from my dad," Will said lowly. In a harsh whisper, "It's about the Hathorne's."

"I got one too, Will. I got it yesterday, my mom said that it was best not to bring it up with anyone, but she gave me a list of people I can talk to about it," Natalie said as she took Will's hand. "You're on there."

Will gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said, "You're on mine, too. Who else is on your list?"

"Richard Jameson, Sarah Franklin, Tyrese Tubbs, and Katie Beckett. I know Katie and Sarah, but that's it. Do you know anyone else on the list?"

"Tyrese is the seeker on the team with me. I've never heard of Richard though," Will replied. He thought to himself, _I know someone who would know though. _"Nat, I'm gonna be back in about thirty minutes." She kissed him right before he left.

Will rushed back to the boys dorm hall and went to Nathan's room. He banged on the door and was surprised when Nathan tapped him on the back. "Looking for someone?" Nathan said mockingly

"I need you to introduce me to Richard Jameson," Will asked quietly.

"Well, I would introduce you. He was in my potions class-"

Will interrupted, "What do you mean was?"

"He was rather dull, he mixed up his acid with his glass of water. Ate him from the inside out, he's still alive, though. Just in the hospital," Nathan laughed a little bit as if he told a funny joke.

"Thanks, Nathan," Will said as he was about to leave.

"There anything you wanna talk about, Hunt," Nathan asked with a knowing look on his face.

"Yeah, I guess, man. I got a letter from my dad today about the Hathorne's," Will said in a low tone. He handed the letter to Nathan, who skimmed it really quickly.

"You shouldn't tell anyone about this, Will," Nathan looked over his shoulders before saying, "Don't trust anyone. There's something big going on. Keep your head low and watch your step." Nathan scurried off quickly. Will ran back over to Natalie and told her about Richard.


End file.
